Developers planning more homes, road connection in south Gastonia

Published: Monday, October 8, 2012 at 08:20 PM.

Before the Pine Trail and Beaty Road connection can be made, developers will have to acquire some additional right of way, Martin said. But they have most of what they need.

Some residents along the existing Kinmere Road aren’t happy about the plan because of the additional traffic it will bring. Diane Ledford, who lives near the road’s current dead-end, said she also doesn’t like the idea of townhomes being built just down the street from her.

But it’s a plan that’s been on the books for years, Martin said.

“With the economic slowdown, it’s just taken some time for them to get to this point,” he said.

Clark said he knows it would’ve happened years ago, if not for the housing collapse. He said he’ll relish his isolation as long as he can hold onto it.

“You lose your privacy,” he said. “But that’s progress, I guess.”

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.

Clark’s Auto, a modest garage just south of Gastonia, lies off the beaten path.

Vehicles en route there send chickens and other farm animals scuttling as they drive down the gravel and dirt corridor known as Pine Trail.

Being positioned in such a rural pocket has never bothered business owner Mike Clark, who has directed customers to his location off Beaty Road since 1984. The garage sits beside the home he’s lived in since 1973.

“I make a living,” Clark said from his driveway Monday.

But before long, the weathered route will become a busy connecting road to an upscale neighborhood. After years of inactivity, developers are moving forward with plans to build a back entrance into the Kinmere Farms subdivision, providing residents more direct access from Beaty Road.

“I don’t care for the traffic it’s going to bring,” said Clark. “But there ain’t no use in fighting. When they’ve got a 60-foot right of way, there ain’t nothing much you can do.”

Second access

The Kinmere Farms subdivision is home to 155 single-family lots in south Gastonia, and many of the stately houses there were built in the early to mid-2000s. Residents must access their homes from a single entrance, turning onto Kinmere Drive from Gaston Day School Road.

Eight years ago, developers laid out a plan for extending Kinmere Drive to the south, providing a connection with Pine Trail and Beaty Road. That was all put on old with the housing market collapse of 2008 and 2009.

But plans for the road extension and more residential construction are ramping up again. Gastonia City Council members this month approved a special exception to their flood ordinance, which will allow Kinmere Drive to be built across a creek that runs through the area.

The flood study that developers conducted, and the city’s special exception, will have to be reviewed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the coming months. After that, work on the new road will likely proceed.

The road connection is part of developers’ plans to build 97 more single-family homes, and up to 108 townhomes, on the Beaty Road side of the creek, said Gastonia Assistant City Engineer Thorne Martin.

“They’ve built out all the lots on the Kinmere Road side, so they’re ready to start,” he said. “We’ve got some construction plans in for review, so they’re getting a lot closer to doing it.”

Price of growth

Before the Pine Trail and Beaty Road connection can be made, developers will have to acquire some additional right of way, Martin said. But they have most of what they need.

Some residents along the existing Kinmere Road aren’t happy about the plan because of the additional traffic it will bring. Diane Ledford, who lives near the road’s current dead-end, said she also doesn’t like the idea of townhomes being built just down the street from her.

But it’s a plan that’s been on the books for years, Martin said.

“With the economic slowdown, it’s just taken some time for them to get to this point,” he said.

Clark said he knows it would’ve happened years ago, if not for the housing collapse. He said he’ll relish his isolation as long as he can hold onto it.

“You lose your privacy,” he said. “But that’s progress, I guess.”

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.